


Looking for the Pieces

by jesidres



Series: A Protector in Need [2]
Category: Persona 4, Persona Series
Genre: Dojima Family bonding, Dojima has a persona, Dojima is a badass, Igor is off dealing with P5, Moving On, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, picking up the pieces
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 15:36:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18552682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jesidres/pseuds/jesidres
Summary: It's been a little over a month since Yu left for university, leaving his uncle to finish getting used to this 'Persona' business on his own.  Between his work as a police detective in Inaba and the work he does for the Kirijo group, Dojima has his hands full. But a chance encounter in a cafe in Okina City leads him to questions about what happens when the contracts end, and why Margaret is looking for her sister, if she doesn't want to be found.





	Looking for the Pieces

Ryotaro had never been one to people watch.

 Sure, he *watched* people, particularly when questioning them on whatever crime he was investigating.  He’d study them, watching their movements for tics and tells that would help him dig into small lies to uncover the truth. But watching people, just to see them as the part of the people passing through the shops at Okina’s shopping plaza, was not something he’s normally even consider doing.

He pulled at the crimson tie, loosening it a little to breathe before taking another sip of his coffee.  All these stupid meetings recently had him having to keep a level of decorum he’d normally avoid, but he had an hour before he was due to be down the street, at the newly opened branch of the Kirijo Group.  Probably another pointless meeting that, in reality, he wasn’t needed at, but again, everyone had to keep up appearances.

The detective took another sip of coffee, watching people go about their normal, ordinary lives, unaware of secrets kept just out of sight.  A couple of office drones passed by, out for a group lunch, rushing to make it back before they were due at their desks. A set of high school girls, probably skipping school, came the opposite way in a cloud of laughing and giggling, shopping bags swaying in their grasp.  Another gaggle of ladies, slightly older than the last, sipped their coffees as they too watched the office drones pass by, whispering and giggling when he assumed they found one that was a bit more attractive than the others. When he sipped his coffee again, one of the women gestured towards his table.  He tried his best to ignore the burning in his ears. I’m probably old enough to be your father, young lady.

His turned his attention back out the window, the ghost of his reflection superimposed on the spring scene outside. To him, he was hardly remarkable; his suit fully buttoned for once (he’d even remembered the vest his nephew had insisted Tatsumi match for him, as unnecessary as it was), the stubble he just never could get rid of still dusting his jaw, his grey-brown eyes still tired from the world.

_Not as tired as they used to be._

The detective didn’t answer the other voice in his head, but he did have to agree.  Fact was, many of the lines he’d assumed were simply the mark of the continual march of aging had vanished in the last six months, the hollows filled in and the slight grey that had once hinted at his temples had become harder and harder to find.  If he was honest, he looked 10 years younger than his 43 years.

 _You might as well be, for all that’s happened._ The voice of Hikohohodemi, one of the two Personas that fought by his side, bickered in his head. _Age is just a number, anyway.  You could wipe the floor with the entire rookie cadet class at this point, with one hand tied behind your back._

Oh, shut up. It’s not a fair fight, with you two.  Personas aren’t standard issue.

 _Even without us, your strength is still formidable at this point._ Ryūjin, his less… boisterous persona, chimed in. _You’ve adapted well to your power._

Adapted well, my ass.  It was hard to believe anyone could get used to an extra voice in their head, let alone two.  How his nephew managed with the stack of personas at his disposal was beyond the older man.

_And if not by the twist of fate, that could have been me._

Dojima admitted he didn’t understand the exact particulars of the story, but when Inaba had been the Goddess of Death’s stomping grounds, the powers that be had made a miscalculation on exactly when she’d needed to be stopped. So they’d had mistakenly given him and his nephew opportunities to take the lead on bringing the perp down, and only by chance had his nephew had to deal with the terror of the kidnapping and space behind the tvs.  With the crimes wrapped up, and the goddess reborn (don’t even ask how that happened) no one worried about the elder detective getting mixed up in the sea of souls. He was left to live out his ordinary life, never to know how close to the supernatural he’d really been.

But, despite it all, Yu and his uncle continued to be brought into the dealings of shadows, even beyond Inaba.  First was the strange happenings of an escaped test subject of the Kirijo group, which was now under Dojima’s case file, as the rogue persona user was still in hiding.  Then there was the Love Meets Bond festival being used as a front for a… some bizarre dancing soul sucking plot? Even Yu, who was much more open minded about these things, admitted it was a bit confusing on the exact motives there.

Then had come November.  

A prison break out had resulted in Detective Dojima learning first hand about the world behind the TVs… the ‘Sea of Souls’, as the Kirijo labcoats called it.  Even got a persona, though apparently the wrong one, which led to the detective in fear of his own powers and confused on what was happening. All while a ruthless fugitive convict killed, bombed and terrorized the Yasoinaba region for weeks.  Only in his lowest hour did he find out about how all his troubles had been because the powers that be made a mistake, and had made two wildcards instead of one.

In the end, he’d been left with a different type of power than his nephew; Dojima could only wield two personas, instead of the compendium of most wildcards, but in exchange, he could wield both at once.  One, the elder Ryūjin, wielded almighty and electrical skills, and then Hikohohodemi, whose fiery nature, power and regenerative skills had nearly gotten the detective caught by a shadowy government group, seeking persona users for their own gain.  If not for his nephew and the head of the Kirijo group, who knows what would have happened to him?

Even as things settled, new issues continued to pop up. Unlike most personas, Ryūjin and Hikohohodemi were able to affect things in the real world, not just in the Sea of Souls. Between this and the fact that he was older than most when their personas ‘awaken’, as the labcoats put it, the two were affecting his body much more than the others. Increased strength and the ability to generate extreme temperatures was handy, but it meant that he had to be all the more careful.  

 _Says the man who uses his extraordinary powers to keep his coffee warm_ , grumbled Hikohohodemi. Dojima didn’t respond, sipping the once again steaming coffee.

 _Someone is here_ , Ryūjin announced.

Indeed, there was that strange feeling, like an itch behind his eyeballs. Annoying, but useful for tracking down where energy from the Sea of Souls was affecting the real world.  Not that unusual, with Kirijo setting up a branch nearby, but who…?

The detective scanned the street, then turned to the cafe interior.  In a moment he had his answer in a flash of blue and silver. Yellow eyes caught his brown as she accepted her order from the cashier.  “Ah, Dojima. I did not expect to see you here. I had just stepped out to procure some refreshment….”

Margaret took the proffered seat opposite him.  Even in this mundane setting, the woman seemed so utterly alien and out of place.  Even her manner of speech suggested a strange inhuman quality that unnerved him, never mind the ultra platinum hair and golden eyes.

“Hm. Not many good coffee places in that place, are there?”

Gold eyes.  Same eyes that Shadows have, or those so depraved that they revel in the worst of themselves they don’t need a shadow.  Margaret claimed to be neither, merely an ‘attendant’ of the wildcards. Yu vouched for her, so Dojima let it be, though the curiosity did raise its head every time he met her.

“Not that I’ve found, sadly. That, and I needed the walk.  Have you been well, sir?”

“As well as a man be, working two jobs at once and sharing headspace with a couple of assho- hm, annoyances.”

His slip brought a small smile to her lips; the only crack in the extreme formality of her being.  “I would find it surprising you would think so lowly of yourself, sir.”

“Hm?”

“Well, they are, after all, simply aspects of your inner self. So if you think they are, ah, annoyances, in some way you must think that you yourself are one as well…”

The laughter in the back of his mind made him wince. _Har har, boys_. “Well played.”

The small smile hid itself behind her coffee cup.

They lapsed into a not-quite awkward silence after that, with her watching the people from the window with a sort of shy aloofness, and he studying her reflection in the glass.  

He’d never noticed before, but she was older than Yu and the rest of his friends, and that other otherworldly girl, Marie.  He’d always known she was younger than himself, but her exotic looks made it hard to guess what age she was meant to be. Maybe somewhere halfway in between the detective and his nephew? Was that on purpose? Or all just a massive coincidence?

He was too old for coincidences these days.  

Not for the first time he wondered what exactly she was in this whole mess, beyond a source of information about the shadows that stalked the Sea of Souls, and this role of her ‘attendant’ position. Did it mean she was tied forever to Yu, for the rest of his life? That seemed unfortunate, but less likely the more Dojima thought about it. She still was here, in Yasoinaba, while Yu was back in Tokyo for the beginning of university (though, his nephew had promised to come back for break in a few weeks).  On a few occasions, she’d even come to Dojima, asking for assistance in defeating a few shadows that had run amok, or retrieving strange items from various places.

He wondered, tangentially, if she was happy.

Dojima blinked, startled, then took a gulp of coffee to cover it.  Where had that thought come from? He looked at her reflection again. To be honest, she didn’t _seem_ happy at the moment.  The smile was long gone, and something in the way she’d drawn in her shoulders and tucked her knees together spoke of a worry that she hid behind a neutral mask.  Well, as neutral as one could be with yellow eyes and a bright blue dress.

Desperate to fill the void, the detective spoke, half to himself, “You know, it amazes me how people ignore you, despite your getup. Even I can’t blend in that well, and I’m supposed to be here….” That sounded crueler than he meant it, oops.

“Oh, they don’t really see me, sir.  You can, because of your power; but to most, I make sure I seem as unremarkable as possible.  A glamour, as it were. If your personas were to close their eyes from you, I would look like anyone who is meant to be here.”

“Huh. Can they do that?” _Can you guys do that?_

    Suddenly, his eyesight blurred for a moment, and he was forced to blink.  When Dojima was able to focus again, Margaret was gone, and in her place was a young lady with shoulder length brownish black hair, brown eyes and a small, sweet smile, dressed much like any other woman in the cafe.  A strange air of familiarity that chewed at his memory, unsettlingly so, but he couldn’t place it. Then, as soon as she was there, the other woman was gone, and Margaret was back, a slight tilt to her head as she watched him.

    Dojima blinked again, feeling the beginnings of a headache blossom between his temples.  “Huh. Never thought I’d be seeing things differently, just because of….” Well, you know.

    “Once a perception shifts, it’s hard to remember what it was like to see before.  Even more so when your connection to the world has changed.”

    He nodded.  “So…. Did the boss give you a day off, or is there something else that brought you out here? The coffee’s decent, but not _that_ good. Surely there are better things for you to do than to deal with this old man asking stupid questions.”

    She may have rolled her eyes slightly at his self-deprecation, but quickly returned her eyes to her half full cup. “My master has been gone for some time, sir.  I’m not sure when he’ll be returning, so I doubt he’d mind if I spent some time away from my post.”

“That normal for him? To up and leave like that?” Sure, Yu wasn’t here anymore, and Dojima couldn’t do what most wildcards could with collecting and merging personas, but it seemed odd that the mysterious underling of Philemon, who Dojima had only met once, would leave without Margaret.

“It’s...not entirely unusual. He goes where he senses a contract for him. We attendants change to best suit the job.” The itch behind his eyes grew as she warmed her coffee with a bit more finesse than he could manage.  “To be honest, I do not know why I came out today. My research has been… slow, lately.”

Ah, right. She’d mentioned her sister was missing, a while back. Something to do with a friend of Kirijo and Aigis, if he remembered correctly. “That can be frustrating.” He acknowledged, lamely. Small talk was never Dojima’s strong point.  “Anything I can do to help?”

She shook her head, the silver hair never falling out of place. “Thank you. Sadly, I doubt the connections you have here would have information I haven’t already found.”

He shrugged, not taking it personally. He suspected the information she was looking for wasn’t going to be noticed by normal police procedures, and whatever information Kirijo dug up was already available to her. Not that they kept him in the loop about many things; since he split his time between the Inaba PD and Kirijo, his interactions were limited to investigations and when brute force was needed.

Normally, that suited him just fine.  However, his nephew’s magnanimous ways had been infectious, and it frustrated the detective to feel useless.  “Well, if there is any way I can help, let me know.”

Glancing at the clock, he grumbled.  “I’m due in a meeting with several members of the Kirijo top brass in a few minutes.  I don’t suppose you know of any life threatening invasions of demons or otherworld types that I could use as an excuse to get out of it, do you?”

Margaret looked quizzical for a moment, before dawning realization passed over her face, bringing with it a small chuckle.  “Sorry, detective.”

“Damn.” He reluctantly adjusted his suit jacket and stood.  He scratched the back of his head, trying to think how he could do something to help the poor woman.  “Well, I’m off, but… if you’re still up for a bit of socializing, you’re welcome to stop for dinner at any time.  Nanako and I could use the company.”

Margaret collected their cups and put them at the disposal station for the staff.  “Hm. Thank you for the offer, sir. I’ll consider it. Likewise, if you need to hone your skills, the compendium is available.  Say hello to your daughter for me… and your nephew, should you speak to him soon.”

“He’s back for for Golden Week, which is… damn, only two weeks from now? His parents are overseas again. I’ll let him know you asked about him.”  Dojima marveled at how everyone seemed to care for the silver-haired boy.

She smiled that small, soft smile at that.  “I suspect he would return to Inaba, anyways. Your his family, now.  You showed him love and acceptance.”

Dojima snorted. “He did more for us than we could ever do for him. I’d hate to think of what would have happened if hadn’t….”

An emotion that Dojima could place passed over the attendant’s features. Something similar to sorrow, he suspected, given how her eyebrows gathered, and her smile faded. But just as soon as it came, it was gone.  “Have a good afternoon, detective.”

“You as well.” He waved, then fished the Kirijo ID badge from his breast pocket.  Back to work.

 

It wasn’t until later, as his mind wandered while a labcoat droned on about a shift in the metaverse (whatever the hell that was), that Dojima realized who Margaret had looked like, with the glamour on.  The shame of not realizing it sooner was sobering.

_She looked just like Chisato did, right before she died._

**Author's Note:**

> A year later, after swearing I had nothing to add to Protector.... I add something to Protector. Whoops! 
> 
> It always interested me that Margaret was so much older than her siblings, or her wildcard. Also how little we get to know about her, besides hints in the spin off games that she's looking for Elizabeth, and that she's a quiet enigma who seems like she could use another adult to talk to. And Dojima needs a friend who isn't going to stab him in the back. 
> 
> This is hopefully be a little more vignette-y than cliffhanger central (like Protector- I'm sorry, not sorry). The rest of the IT is going to show up, as is more of SEES (Dojima and Akihiko together crack me up). Hopefully, folks will like it!


End file.
